While the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine is a private, for-profit institution, the College has established two nonprofit foundations. Through these entities, ICOM supports various initiatives including graduate medical education, research, scholarships for medical students, and physician loan repayment.

Primary Care Initiative

In partnership with Blue Cross of Idaho, the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine has created the Primary Care Initiative — a 501-c-3 private foundation established to address the critical shortage of primary care physicians in rural Idaho and surrounding region. The nonprofit foundation offers an opportunity for medical education debt repayment for rural physicians who practice primary care medicine in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) or similarly underserved areas. Its primary objective is to raise funds that will enable foundation leaders and officers to incentivize graduates of ICOM and other medical schools to locate their primary care practices in rural Idaho and surrounding rural areas. The foundation also offers scholarships for medical students.

Mountain States Institute for Graduate Medical Education & Research

ICOM has also established the Mountain States Institute for Graduate Medical Education and Research (MSI) — another 501-c-3 private foundation — committed to the development of graduate medical education (GME) programs, research opportunities and scholarly activities. MSI has received initial accreditation as an Institutional Sponsor for GME programs by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) — a positive first step in the development of postgraduate training programs. The foundation is a consortium between community-based hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers and ICOM. As a GME Consortium, academic and clinical institutions are able to share resources and expertise to develop and maintain the highest quality community-based postgraduate medical education in the region and further develop research opportunities.